Harvest & Heartbreak
An interactive journey through the complex, contested, and evolving story of American Thanksgiving. Explore the narratives of cooperation, conflict, myth-making, and remembrance that define this holiday.
An Alliance of Necessity
The 1621 feast was not a simple dinner party. It was a moment of fragile diplomacy between two peoples in crisis, each leveraging the other for their own survival. This section explores the dire circumstances that brought the Wampanoag and the English colonists together.
The Wampanoag's World
For over 12,000 years, the Wampanoag—the "People of the First Light"—thrived in a sophisticated society. But between 1616 and 1619, a devastating epidemic introduced by European traders swept through their communities, creating a geopolitical crisis.
~90%
Mortality Rate
The plague killed up to ninety percent of the coastal Indigenous population, leaving the Wampanoag confederacy weakened and vulnerable to their rivals, the Narragansett.
For their leader, Ousamequin, an alliance with the newly arrived English and their firearms was a strategic necessity to protect his people and restore the balance of power.
The Colonists' Plight
The 102 passengers of the *Mayflower* arrived in November 1620, far north of their intended destination. Their first winter was brutal, marked by disease, starvation, and profound ignorance of their new environment.
~50%
Survival Rate
By the spring of 1621, only about half of the colonists and crew were still alive. The Plymouth colony was on the verge of complete collapse.
For Governor John Carver, a treaty with the local Wampanoag was their only hope. It offered protection and, crucially, access to the Indigenous knowledge needed to cultivate the land and survive.
Deconstructing the Feast
The modern Thanksgiving dinner bears little resemblance to the three-day harvest celebration of 1621. Explore the differences in the food, fashion, and purpose of the event that became a foundational American myth.
The Menu: Then vs. Now
Click a category to compare the seasonal, wild foods of 1621 with the standardized dishes of today.
1621 Feast
Modern Dinner
Culinary Shift
The 1621 feast was dominated by wild game and seafood, reflecting what was available. Today's meal is centered on farmed turkey and standardized side dishes, many of which were impossible to make in the 17th century.
Forging a National Myth
For 200 years, the 1621 feast was a forgotten footnote. It was resurrected in the 19th century to create a unifying origin story for a nation divided by civil war. This timeline shows how a regional custom became a national holiday.
1827-1863
Sarah Josepha Hale's Crusade
1863
Lincoln's Proclamation
1941
A Date Set in Law
A National Day of Mourning
For many Indigenous peoples, Thanksgiving is not a celebration. It's a painful reminder of colonization, genocide, and the erasure of their history. The popular myth of a peaceful feast masks the brutal reality that followed.
The Unraveling Peace
The peace treaty of 1621 held for 50 years, but was strained by relentless colonial expansion. In 1675, King Philip's War erupted, a devastating conflict that killed 40% of the remaining Native population in the region and ended Indigenous sovereignty. In a grim irony, colonists declared days of "thanksgiving" for military victories over Native peoples.
The Suppressed Speech of 1970
On the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrims' arrival, Wampanoag leader Wamsutta (Frank) James was invited to speak. When state officials saw his speech told the truth of his people's experience, they censored it. He refused to read their sanitized version.
"This is a time of celebration for you... but it is not a time of celebration for me. It is with a heavy heart that I look back upon what happened to my People... The Pilgrims had hardly explored the shores of Cape Cod four days before they had robbed the graves of my ancestors, and stolen their corn, wheat, and beans... Our spirit refuses to die. Yesterday we walked the woodland paths and sandy trails. Today we must walk the macadam highways and roads. We are uniting. We're standing not in our wigwams but in your concrete tent. We stand tall and proud and before us is the dawn of a new day. We shall not be silenced."
— From the suppressed speech of Wamsutta Frank James
Instead of speaking at the official banquet, James delivered his speech on Cole's Hill in Plymouth, inaugurating the first National Day of Mourning, a solemn protest held every Thanksgiving Day since.
A Holiday of Contradictions
Understanding Thanksgiving requires holding its conflicting narratives in tension. It is a story of survival and of conquest, of national unity and of profound injustice. It can be a day for gratitude, while also being a moment for sober reflection on the full, complex, and often painful history of a nation.